What: "Normally, an electron is like a ping-pong ball sitting inside an upright ice-cream cone. As long as nothing changes, there is no reason for the ball to suddenly leave the cone. And yet, in certain situations, an electron can occasionally escape its snug hole. When it does so, the electron passes, ghost-like, through the barrier - a quantum phenomenon known as tunneling, which arises from the fact that such quantum particles as electrons can also act as waves. This is one of the most basic principles of quantum physics, but because it has no parallel in the everyday world, it still challenges the imagination of laypeople and physicists, alike."

Writer: Dr. Nirit Dudovich

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Date: Aug 7 2013 5:46 PM